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The next storm will spread snow into the region today mainly between the hours of 3-5 pm, with a transition to sleet then freezing rain in many areas prior to midnight. This is likely to make for a slow and messy evening commute. Snow accumulations prior to the switch will be variable and dependent on the exact timing of the changeover but in general will range from 2"-4" in most spots. Locally 3"-6" of snow will be possible in the Mohawk valley, Adirondacks, Lake George-Saratoga Region, Vermont and the Berkshires where snow is more likely to last longer. 0.10" to 0.15" of ice accretion will be possible into early Wednesday morning on top of the snow.

The Real Deal: Electric Car Charging Stations

Updated: Wednesday, March 20 2013, 01:56 PM EDTALBANY -- The State of New York is shelling out 8 million dollars to companies and municipalities that want to install electric car charging stations. More than a million dollars of that money is being handed out here in the Capital Region. Dozens of charging stations will be installed at grocery stores, apartment complexes and hotels in the coming year with the help of these grants.

Dan Degener of Albany bought a Chevy Volt about 8 months ago and loves it, "I haven't filled up at all, I put in 2 gallons just to see how much it would take," he says. He drives about 20 miles back and forth to work every day and then plugs his car in when he gets home. He has never used a public charging station.

CBS6 reviewed Department of Motor Vehicle registration data which shows that there are just 1100 electric/hybrid cars in the State of New York that could utilize public charging stations and only 102 of them are being driven here in the Capital Region. Of those 102 cars, 55 are owned by the State of New York.

"It's quite a bit of money to spend, considering the amount of people that do have the cars," says Donna Osterhouat a taxpayer from Albany that does not have a plug-in car. Kim Scattareggia, also of Albany, echoed the thought, "there's a lot of other things they could be doing with that money in this area, fixing roads and using it for other reasons," she says.

CBS6 Reporter, Jennifer Lewke, reached out to NYSERDA, the agency passing out the cash and Governor Andrew Cuomo's office more than a dozen times over the course of two months requesting an on-camera interview about the investment in these charging stations, both offices denied the requests. In an email, a NYSERDA spokeswoman said, "New York's investment in its EV infrastructure will help encourage the use of EV's and will allow New Yorkers to decrease their dependence on fossil fuels thereby reducing their carbon footprint...developing the state's EV infrastructure will stimulate the economic activity across the state and protect the environment."

The state has already awarded $4.4 million to 10 companies across the state to install the stations. A second wave of $3.8 million in funding will be handed out in the coming months. The projects that are selected for the grants are paying approximately 43% of the total cost, with NYSERDA paying 57%.

The state is taking a "build it and they will come" approach as is the Federal Government who also plans to invest millions of dollars in this technology here in New York in the coming years. "You're not calculating the immense benefit that's coming, you're looking at it in a single frame of a snap shot that just doesn't tell the whole story and if we thought like that through the ages or decades of existence we would have been no where," says Congressman Paul Tonko, who is the former Director of NYSERDA. When asked whether he was worried the technology wouldn't catch-on after the investment has been made Tonko says he's not, "I think this investment is a sound one for the purposes of the environment, the ecology and the economy."

But even Degener, who loves his Volt, says the way to encourage more people to buy them and other plug-in cars, is to drop the price. Right now, most plug-in models start around $40,000

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WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 03/21/14 -- Companies that pride themselves on being eco-friendly may have conflicted ideas between marketing with ad specialties and maintaining their green reputation. ...